Walter J. Salmon Sr.
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Walter Joseph Salmon Sr. (1871 – December 25, 1953) was a
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
real estate investor and developer. According to the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...
, Salmon was "responsible for rebuilding the north side of West
42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...
between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the first decades of the 20th century". As well, Salmon was a major figure in the business of
Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...
whom ''
The Blood-Horse ''The Blood-Horse'' (also referred to simply as ''Blood-Horse'' and displayed on its nameplate in upright all-capital letters without hyphenation as BLOODHORSE) is a news magazine that originated in 1916 as a monthly bulletin of the Thoroughbred ...
'' magazine called "one of the leading breeder/owners of the 20th century." Born Walter J. Salomon, in his adult years he changed the spelling of his surname to Salmon. On September 3, 1906, he married Elsie A. May. A son, Walter J. Salmon Jr., was born on June 14, 1907, but twenty-three-year-old Elsie May Salomon died fifteen days later. Walter Salmon then married Elsie's younger sister Lois, who would die on March 1, 1916, aged twenty-eight. Just prior to his marriage to Elizabeth J. Davy of
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, in early 1919 Salmon was elected President of the New Symphony Orchestra.


Real estate

Walter Salmon built and owned a number of valuable properties in New York City including the 31-story
Salmon Tower Building The Salmon Tower Building is a 31-story skyscraper located at 11 West 42nd Street and 20 West 43rd Street in Manhattan, New York City, near Bryant Park. It was designed by Albert J. Wilcox and finished in 1928. It was developed by a firm headed ...
. In a 1941 deal, described by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' as "One of the largest of sales in the midtown section of Manhattan", Walter Salmon sold the building on the northwest corner of
42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...
and
Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown. Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...
and another on the southwest corner of 49th Street and
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
. According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, Walter Salmon's crowning achievement was the construction of
500 Fifth Avenue 500 Fifth Avenue is a 60-story, office building on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon in the ...
, at the corner of 42nd Street and
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
, which was made a
New York City Designated Landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...
in 2010. Of importance in the business world,
Meinhard v. Salmon ''Meinhard v. Salmon'', 164 N.E. 545 (N.Y. 1928), is a widely cited case in which the New York Court of Appeals held that partners in a business owe fiduciary duties to one another where a business opportunity arises during the course of the ...
, 164 N.E. 545 (N.Y. 1928), is a widely cited case in which the
New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of New York (state), Unified Court System of the New York (state), State of New York. It consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeal ...
held that partners in a business owe
fiduciary duties A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (legal person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for ...
to one another where a business opportunities arises during the course of the partnership.


Mereworth farm

Walter Salmon Sr. had been involved in the sport of Thoroughbred racing for a few years when he began to win consistently after he signed Eugene Wayland as his trainer in 1918. The following year he decided to also breed Thoroughbreds for himself and established Mereworth Farm, a 1,200-acre property on Yarnallton Pike near
Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...
. In 1933 he changed the business into a completely commercial breeding operation, selling all horses each year. In 1946 Mereworth Farm horses won more purse money than any other racing stable in the United States and led the country in races won from 1947 through 1953. Such was his importance to the industry that Walter Salmon's Mereworth Farm was one of those profiled by racing historian Edward L. Bowen in his 2003 book, '' Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders''. Among his racing successes, Salmon owned Careful who was the American Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1920 and the
American Champion Older Female Horse The Eclipse Award for Champion Older Dirt Female Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a filly or mare, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of the ...
of 1922. For 1930, another filly,
Snowflake A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 100–107.Hobbs, P.V. 1974. Ice Physics. Oxford: C ...
, earned American Co-Champion Three-Year-Old Filly honors. During this decade Walter Salmon won the
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...
three times with
Vigil A vigil, from the Latin meaning 'wakefulness' ( Greek: , or ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word has become generalized in this sense and means 'eve' (as in "on t ...
(1923), Display (1926), and Dr. Freeland (1929). Display would be the most successful horse that Walter Salmon bred and raced. In addition to his Preakness and other top race wins, Display sired the 1935
American Horse of the Year The American Award for Horse of the Year, or simply Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to san ...
and
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
inductee,
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
whom Salmon sold as an unraced two-year-old to Alfred G. Vanderbilt II. Discovery became the maternal
grandsire Grandsire is one of the standard change ringing methods, which are methods of ringing church bells or handbells using a series of mathematical permutations rather than using a melody. The grandsire method is usually rung on an odd number of bells ...
of Hall of Fame inductees
Bold Ruler Bold Ruler (April 6, 1954 – July 12, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame racehorse who was the 1957 American Horse of the Year, Horse of the Year. This following a three-year-old campaign t ...
and
Native Dancer Native Dancer (March 27, 1950 – November 16, 1967), nicknamed the ''Gray Ghost'', was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television ...
. Walter Salmon also bred Sunglow, sire of Hall of Fame inductee
Sword Dancer Sword Dancer (April 24, 1956 – November 16, 1984) was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame Eclipse Award, Champion Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse. He was the leading American colt of his generation an ...
who in turn sired another Hall of Fame inductee,
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
. In addition, Salmon bred
Battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
, the only horse in history to win both the American Grand National and the English Grand National steeplechase races. Walter Salmon died on December 25, 1953, in New York City. He was buried in the Locust Valley Cemetery at Locust Valley on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. At the time of his death, Walter Salmon had bred more than 100 stakes winners.Mereworth Farm at Thoroughbred Heritage
/ref> His son, Walter Jr., would follow in his father's footsteps both in the real estate business and in Thoroughbred racing and breeding.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Walter J. Sr. 1871 births 1953 deaths American Jews American businesspeople in real estate American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Preakness Stakes winners Businesspeople from New York City